New Program Engages Area Businesses as Volunteers
UVLT has launched its new Corporate Service Program! Building on the foundation of years of group volunteer projects with Hypertherm and other area businesses through employer sponsored volunteer programs, UVLT sought to expand the program and reach out to other businesses that support their employees with benefits that include paid volunteer time.
TomTom employees working hard to clean out an old farm dump during their employer sponsored service day (Photo by Community Outreach Coordinator Brie Swenson)
In September we hired Brie Swenson, of Norwich, as our new Community Outreach Coordinator to take on the task of building this new program. Brie began reaching out to Upper Valley businesses to engage them with the program and find out the needs of their employees.
TomTom employees filling up a dumpster (Photo by Land Steward Doug Brown)
Our one of our first “new†businesses to support a volunteer workday was TomTom and it turned out to be one of our biggest workdays yet. On Thursday, October 25th, our Stewardship team led 28 employees from TomTom’s Lebanon office out to Brookmead Conservation Area in Norwich for a full day of volunteer service. Together they removed disused equipment from an onsite cabin, cleaned out an abandoned farm storage yard, monitored the field boundary, and split and stacked another cord of firewood for the local fuel assistance program. One TomTom employee even brought his own tractor to help mow and brush the edges of the main trail.
TomTom employee filling the dumpster with old pallets (Photo by Land Steward Doug Brown)
Through the new Corporate Service Program, we aim to provide value-added skills and team building opportunities that support employer service assignments. We offer a variety of service day programs that will fit each group’s fitness, interest and commitment level. With almost 20 owned and managed properties, we are also able to offer locations that are accessible to most Upper Valley employers.
The whole TomTom crew! (Photo by Community Outreach Coordinator Brie Swenson)
Expanding engagement and visibility in land conservation is an explicit goal of this program. This year, UVLT has completed 1,139 hours of outdoor conservation and trail work with volunteers. Of that number, 744 hours have been logged by groups engaged via their employer. We strive to double that number by the conclusion of the Corporate Volunteer Program’s first year, and invite your group to join us! If you are a business that wants to sponsor a work day, or an employee at a business with paid volunteer time and you are interested in our Corporate Service Program please contact Brie at Brie.Swenson@uvlt.org
Running the log splitter (Photo by Community Outreach Coordinator Brie Swenson).
